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Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle

Pappano & Friends

Sir Antonio Pappano

Rossini pours his heart out, and Antonio Pappano and friends join in the fun, in this authentically Italian performance of the irresistible Petite Messe Solennelle.

Rossini was a good Catholic, but he was also a showman. ‘Oh Lord’ he prayed, ‘you know as well as I do that I was born to write comic opera’. So when he came to write his Little Solemn Mass, he just couldn’t help filling it with cheerful rhythms, brilliant operatic solos and tune after irresistibly hummable tune. 

Sacred music doesn’t get much more entertaining than this, and Sir Antonio Pappano is giving it the authentic Italian treatment. The choir is his own, from the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, and with Pappano directing from the piano (part of Rossini’s delightfully quirky scoring) plus a team of solo singers drenched in the bel canto tradition, this should sound delicious.

End-time to be announced nearer the event.

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